Monster
by Ventus Phoenix
Summary: Lately, Queen has been seeing an alternate version of herself in her dreams. When this alternate self manifests in the real world, the two personalities begin struggling for control, putting everyone at risk, but none more so than Queen herself.


Finally ready to publish this story of mine~.

Again, like 'To Save You', it's based on Queen's alternate personality, commonly known as Janus!Queen. I'm sorry, I have too much fun exploring her character and writing for her.

Thanks go to my close friend Reizna for being my beta-reader and my inspiration. ;w; Please enjoy~.

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy Type-0 or any of its characters, it remains the respective property of Square Enix.

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_It was dark, and there was a cold chill in the air. Icy wisps trailed from her mouth as she lay on the bare, cold ground. Her body felt numb lying there, and she should have moved but she didn't. She should have screamed for help, but she couldn't._

_She was struggling for breath. Her words caught painfully in her throat as she tried to scream, but only a strangled cry escaped her lips. She kicked and grabbed, desperately trying to free herself but her movement was restricted, pinned down by something she couldn't see. Her arms went limp at her sides, and her struggling subsided as she felt herself losing consciousness. Falling into darkness, she heard a cackling laughter and a low voice hissed in her ear, "Just die."_

**...**

Queen awoke from the dream with a cry, gasping for breath and fists tightly clutching her bed sheets. She sat up in bed, her breathing still ragged as she tried to calm herself down. Burying her face in her hands, she brushed away the strands of hair that clung to her face and wiped off the cold sweat that stuck to her forehead. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she sat there in silence for several minutes before making her way to the bathroom.

Flicking the light on, her own face stared back at her from the mirror, but she hardly recognized it as her own reflection. Her hair was messy and unkempt, some of it still clinging to the side of her face. Dark circles hung beneath her eyes, standing out against her pale skin. Groaning, she hit the light switch again and crawled back into bed, staring blankly at the empty ceiling in an attempt to fall back asleep. Some nights she would be kept awake in bed until the sun was visible outside her window. Two weeks had passed since the nightmares started and they hadn't stopped, not even once.

**...**

"l'Cie are marked by the crystal, and as such are granted the promise of long life. But that blessing comes with a curse, as l'Cie are given a task to complete, one that is unknown even to them, called a Focus. This Focus is also known as the l'Cie's fate, as…"

Queen was struggling to stay focused in class, her thoughts drifting in and out as Kurasame continued with his morning lecture. She couldn't seem to concentrate on his class, which she attributed to the fact that she had had little to no sleep last night. Thinking back to her nightmare, she began to wonder what it meant for her. Perhaps it was just a result of all the stress she was feeling from schoolwork. Her eyes were beginning to close when she heard her name being called, and she instantly snapped into focus.

"I-I'm sorry, commander?"

"…The fate of the crystal," he repeated coolly. "Are you familiar with it, Queen?"

"Of course: the longer that a person remains a l'Cie, the older their human memories grow, up to the point when they can no longer remember their given focus."

"…I am afraid that is incorrect."

There were several gasps heard around the room; Queen was _never_ wrong about an answer in class. She said nothing, simply averting her gaze towards her notebook and biting her lip.

"While that is partially true," he began. "The crystal has nothing to do with the loss of memories. Rather, that is simply one of the side effects to becoming a l'Cie. The fate of the crystal deems that once a l'Cie has completed their given focus, they are to spend eternity in a crystal sleep, do you understand?"

Queen nodded, and Kurasame left the topic to continue on with the rest of his lesson. After class was dismissed, she remained behind for a while longer, taking her time packing away her books. One of her pencils dropped from her desk, and just as she was bending down to pick it up, another hand had already beat her to it.

"Nine…" she murmured as she straightened up, recognizing the teasing tone in that masculine laugh.

Setting the pencil down on her desk, he towered over her, leaning to one side as he chuckled at her. She tried to ignore his shadow of a presence, gathering her books into a neat pile and setting them to one side.

"What's the matter, Queen? Never thought I would see you wrong in class for once, hey."

"Never knew that you cared," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "It's of no concern to you."

She stood up from the desk, smoothing out her skirt as she did. Picking up her books, she turned to leave but Nine's body blocked her path. She tried to get around him, but he shifted his stance so that he was still in her way.

"Hey, don't be like that," he smirked, motioning to pat her head gently but she swatted his arm away, glaring up at him. He gasped slightly at her movement; usually when he teased her she wouldn't react like she just did. And the look she gave him just then was harsh, deadly even.

Both were quiet as neither of them moved, the lingering silence becoming even more pressing as time went on. Finally Queen said, "…Can you leave me alone for a while?"

Pushing past him rather roughly, she scurried out of the classroom, holding her books close to her chest. She hadn't meant to lash out at Nine like that, and now she was mentally beating herself up over it. It wasn't her usual behavior; what had brought on that change in character for her, she wondered?

As she made her way back to her room, she suddenly felt a strong dizzy spell coming over her. She lost her grip on her books, and they fell to the ground at her feet. Gripping the wall tightly, she took several deep breaths as she waited for it to subside.

"_What's the matter? Is poor Queen not feeling very well? Fufufu…"_

Her head suddenly snapped up, looking for the source of the other voice but she was alone in the corridor. The dizziness had passed, but now she felt a small headache in its place. Picking up her books slowly, she stood up, still keeping one hand pressed against the wall. When she finally got back to her room, Queen promptly set her books on her table and stripped off her uniform, leaving her in a plain t-shirt and shorts. Collapsing onto her bed, she could have sworn that she heard the same voice from the hallway again, but her thoughts were quickly forgotten as she fell asleep almost immediately.

**...**

_With no light around, she could only rely on her other senses for direction. But how, when even they felt weak and useless? It was deathly quiet, except for the sound of her own breathing, uneven as the cold pressed down on her even further, like a heavy weight on her chest. A sob left her throat as she gasped for breath, tears welling up in her eyes as she lay broken, the cold closing in on her, threatening to strangle her. Suddenly, the weight from her body was lifted, and her lungs were no longer screaming for air. Relief flooded over her as she took several breaths, sucking in deep lungfuls of air, the goose bumps starting to fade from her arms as well._

_Before she could take another breath, her throat constricted tightly once more and the weight pressed on her chest again, the returning chill causing her body to shudder. She let out a scream of pain, even though she knew no one else would hear her. She whimpered, her vision slowly blacking out as she felt something sharp, like pinpricks digging into the skin of her neck._

"_Fufufu…just die…"_

**...**

Queen was thankful the pillow had been there to muffle her pained scream. Cold sweat clung to every inch of her body, her eyes still wet from when she had been crying. She sobbed even more quietly to herself, the nightmare still fresh in her mind. Gradually she began to calm down, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of dread lumped in her stomach.

A blaring siren noise was sounding in the air, ringing in her ears. Was that what had woken her up? It was the emergency siren, the one that summoned her to report to the Class Zero classroom. In all that had happened recently, she had completely forgotten she had an upcoming mission; one that she had been assigned to lead.

"Oi Queen, ya ready?" Nine's voice, she recognized, suddenly shouted from the other side of her bedroom door, his fist pounding on it. "C'mon, we got a mission, dammit!"

Before she could answer him, the sound of retreating footsteps informed her that he had already gone. She looked at her shaking hands, beginning to question herself. Weeks ago she would have had no qualms about leading the mission, but now she wasn't so sure. However it was too late to back out now. Shaking her head, she got dressed into her uniform and took one last look in the mirror before she left. She hoped that no one would notice the exhaustion evident in her face. She couldn't let anyone else know about the nightmares; she refused to let her weakness show.

**...**

"Per the details discussed a couple weeks ago, you will be splitting up into two groups. One will be led by Ace, while the other will be led by Queen."

As Kurasame said these words, he glanced towards the said people, assessing their faces on the situation. While Ace was alert and kept his focus towards Kurasame, Queen had her head down low, fidgeting in her seat.

"Queen?"

Hearing her name, her head snapped up and she blinked once at him.

"Commander?"

"You seem… distracted, lately," he began, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Is there something the matter?"

The eyes of the whole class were upon her now, waiting for her to answer. With a quick shake of her head, she waved them off.

"Please, don't worry about me."

Kurasame's brow rose even further, his head tilting to the side as he reassessed her.

"I can't afford to have any of my students distracted during the mission, much less someone who I will be putting in charge of leading one of the groups. It's not too late to change your mind about this, Queen."

Shaking her head again, she fidgeted once more with her hands in her lap, feeling them curl into fists.

"I can lead this mission, I'll be fine."

While he wanted to ask more of her, he simply nodded slowly and turned his attention back towards the whole class.

"You will be split into two groups," he repeated. "Your mission is to find and destroy the new Crystal Jammer they are working on. Since it shouldn't be operational yet, I am allowing Machina and Rem to go on this mission. We have no clue as to its whereabouts, which is why we are sending you in two groups. This way, you will be able to cover more of the area."

He paused for a moment not too far from where Queen sat in her seat, but she refused to meet eyes with him, afraid of what he might see in them.

"Search and destroy; that is your objective," he ordered. "Go then, and may the crystal's protection be with you."

**...**

Driving her sword into the body of a soldier, blood oozed from the wound and the lifeless body fell at her feet. Queen hesitated for a split second before turning on her heel and running further into the city, quickening her pace. They had been found, and Queen had immediately ordered everyone to fall back and retreat. Somewhere in the chaos, she had somehow ended up separated from the others, and now her thoughts were racing as she rushed past buildings and burning metal. She hadn't heard anything from Ace and the other team, but she trusted them to continue the mission if she was unable to.

Rounding the corner, she finally caught up with the rest of her team in front of her, all of who were looking towards her with concern. Stopping to catch her breath, she panted heavily as Nine came walking towards her, a glare affixed on his face.

"What took ya so long, hey?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, I just…"

"Now, now it's fine. Good thing you're here now," King came in between the pair, glancing down at Queen who was holding the side of her head. "Queen, are you alright?"

Shaking the dull ache away from her head, she nodded once and looked to the rest of her team.

"So, where to now Queen~?" Cinque asked, swaying from side to side.

"We cannot afford to stop for long. It will only be a matter of time before the enemies catch up to us," Trey reminded them, his voice calm despite their current situation.

"Let's keep moving then," King looked to everyone, and they all nodded in response.

Nodding once, Queen began to straighten up but the ache in her head was returning, a small dizzy spell coming with it.

"Queen?" she scarcely heard King's voice in her ear, and his hand on her shoulder. "If you need to rest, it's alright."

"No, there's no time. I'm okay," she mumbled, brushing his hand away from her shoulder and forcing herself to her feet. Swallowing a deep breath, she ran to catch up with the others, just in time to come face to face with some Milites soldiers.

Gritting her teeth, she wasted no time in charging forward with her sword outstretched, cutting down enemies in her way. With a quickly timed dodge roll, she avoided a soldier coming at her from behind and released a _Thunder_ spell from her hand. Crackles of electricity danced over the body, and for the slightest of moments she hesitated as a sharp pain entered her head once again.

"Queen, behind you!"

Before she could react, the butt of a gun hit her hard in the head, causing her to stumble and fall. Dazed and her vision blurry, her head ached as she felt red blood trickling down the side of her face. The soldier towered over her and drove the bayonet side of his gun into her chest, causing her to howl in pain. Digging it further into her flesh, a twisted smile crossed his face as he watched her writhe in pain before pulling out his weapon and kicking her to the side, leaving her to die.

Queen lay crumpled on the ground, the pounding in her ears drowning out the other sounds and thoughts around her. Her breathing slowed as she lay there, scarcely able to hear the voices of her classmates shouting out her name, but the last of her strength was slipping away. It was then she felt a sharp pain running through her head, however the pain she felt wasn't like the same throbbing in the side of her head; no, it felt much like the headaches she had been experiencing earlier, only much more painful.

As the pain worsened, she screamed, clutching her head tightly. It felt like something was tearing at her mind, trying to break free. Her body convulsed violently as a strange darkness began to sweep over her, and as she let out a final scream she suddenly gasped, feeling herself no longer on the Milites battlefield.

It was dark, with a familiar chill in the air. The only difference this time was that she knew she wasn't dreaming. Before she lost consciousness, the last thing she heard was her own voice, unfamiliar even to her ears and saying words she had never heard before.

"Fufufu… you'll regret what you've done…"


End file.
